Retracting type theater chair



Dec. 20, 1949 QRTON 2,492,106

RETRACTING TYPE THEATER CHAIR Filed Jt lne 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A'TTORNEY 20, 1949 QRTQN 2,492,106

RETRACTING TYPE THEATER CHAIR Filed June 29, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR MerritfiK. Orton ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 20, 1949 Es" PATENT? OFFICE Merritt K, Orton; Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor e. The present invention relates to chairs and more particularly to chairs of the retracting type to: installation in theaters, auditoriums and the like. ,v e H 1 The primary objects; off the invention are to provide an improved chair. of the retracting type wherein the occupant may move the seat rearwardlyin orderto permit othersto pass in front of him without his having to rise from his seat to provide such afchair whichwwhen retracted utilizes a minimumofspace to the rear; to provlde such a chair having an arrangement. of pivoted for supporting the seat and back and which arrangement ;-providesfor easy and comfortable retracting and forwardly returning movements; to provide such a chair whosemounteings and operating mechanism are .1 located below the seat level and whichareltherefor concealed from view; and in eneral to provide such a retracting chair which is quietand eflicientin op-eeration and attractive in appearance;

Illustrative I emhodi nents r the invention are ho nt e. e eomnanvi e drawings, w e n;

. links 2i and 22 and at their upper ends to meme Figure 1 is a perspectiveview ofaretracting theater chair in its forwardly moved position; i

Figure 2 is a sectional; view thereof taken on line 2--2lof Figure tand showing the parts of the chair in their forwardly moved positions;

Figure 3 is a sectional viewsimilar to Figure 2 and showing the parts of the chair in their rearwardly moved positions; e

Figured is a fragmentary front elevational view of the mountingand operatingmechanism on the right hand side of the chair; and i with inwardly extending lugs Ii, mounting mem hers I! having outwardly turned flanges, i3, and; bolts ll passing through aligned bolt-receiving apertures in the flange i3 and in the lugs .H for securing the mounting members to the standards. The chair propergenerally comprises a seat and back assembly in which theseat i5 and back I5 are pivotally connected for relative movement, and this assembly is so mounted on the standards that when the seat movesfrearwardly the back also moves rearwardly and simultaneously turns w el eieviineiresii ee meet-vernal: ose.

Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 2 toAmerica'n Seating Company, Grand Rapids, "Mich a corporation of New Jersey l ApplicationJuhe 29, 19461 Serial 680426 i l e. 5.8 um (CL 55-116) tion. In addition the seat i5is preferably inde-. pendentlyturnable abouta horizontal axis so that it may be raised for facilitating sweeping under the chair. a v

The chair back It is secured as by screws or bolts l'l. to the inwardly turned flanges ill of back carriers is on opposite sides of the chair. The rearward ends of the back carriers i9 are supported by rear supports the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to the mounting members i2 and the upper ends of which are pivotally connected to the back carriers. i

The back carriers I9 are supported in the front by several pairs of links, in which the links 2| of z the first pair are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the front of the back carriers l9, the links 22 of the second pairare pivotally connected at their rearward ends to the rear supports 20 and at their forward ends to the lower ends of the links 2!, and the links 23 of the third pairare pivotally connected at their lower ends to the bers 24 movable forwardly and rearwardly in arcuate guides or ways 25 in the mounting members [2. It will be seen that by this arrangement a floating support, i. e. the links 2L; is provided for the forward ends of the back carriers IS. The members 24 may be sliding blocks but are preferably rollers as shown. Seat carriers 26 have their rearward ends pivotally connected to the rear of the back carriers I9, and their forward ends pivotally connected to the rollers 26 and movable forwardly and rearwardly therewith. The chair seat I5 is mounted for turn-1 ing movement about a horizontal axis by means of seat arms 2! secured on opposite sides of. the seat by screws 28 and pivotally connected by any con: ventional means at 29 to the seat carriers 28, respectively. The seat I5 is supported in its. lowered position of occupancy by contact of the. seat arms 21 with inwardly extending stops 30 on. the seat carriers 26.

Movements of the seat and back when retracted or returned by the chair occupant, are best under-X stood by a comparison of Figures 2 and 30f the drawings. .It will be seen that the seat moves rearwardly and forwardly with the seat carriers; in a substantially horizontal path during which movement the back moves rearwardly with the; back carriers and assumes a near-vertical position thus to utilize a minimum of space to the rear of the chair. Retracting and forwardly re-. turning movements of the chair are stopped by contact of the rollers Ilwith stop meanscorne. prising the rearwardland forward endsrespec t tively of the races 25. The rear supports 20 are preferably connected by a cross-tie or strut 3| secured thereto as by welding, and the stability of the structure is thereby increased.

The modification of the chair shown in Figures 5 and 6 is the same as the embodiment above described except that the lower ends of the three pairs of front-supporting links I2I, I22 and I23 are pivotally mounted on a roller I24 movable in a straight rearwardly-downwardly extending a.

race I25 in the mounting members I I2, While the upper ends of the links I23 are pivoted directly to the forward ends of the seat carriers I26, no roller being provided at this latter connection as in the chair shown in Figures 1-4. Forward and rearward movements of this modified chair are substantially the same as the movements of the chair shown in Figures 1-4.

While but two specific embodiments of the invention have been herein shown and described,

it will be understood that numerous details may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a chair, a frame, back carriers and a back mounted thereon, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the back carriers, seat carriers having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the back carriers, a seat mounted on. the seat carriers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the back carriers and the seat carriers comprising pairs of links, the links of the first pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the back carriers, and the links of the second pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the seat carriers and having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first pair, means for mounting one of said pairs of links on the frame for forward and rearward movements relative thereto, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

2. In a chair, a frame, back carriers and a back mounted thereon, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the back carriers, seat carriers having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the back carriers, a seat mounted on the seat carriers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the back carriers and the seat carriers comprising pairs of links, the links of the first pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the back carriers, the links of the second pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the seat carriers and having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first pair, and the links of the third pair having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the rear supports and having their forward ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second pairs of links, means for mounting one of said pairs of links on the frame for forward and rearward movements relative thereto, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

3. In a chair, a frame having forwardly-rear wardly extending guides at opposite sides thereof, back carriers and a back mounted thereon, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the back car'- riers, seat carriers having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the back carriers, a seat mounted on the seat carriers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the back carriers and the seat carriers comprising pairs of links, the links of the first pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the back carriers, and the links of the second pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the seat carriers and having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first pair, means movable in said guides associating one of said pairs of links with the frame, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

4. In a chair, a frame having forwardly-rearwardly extending guides at opposite sides thereof, back carriers and a back mounted thereon, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the back carriers, seat carriers having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the back carriers, a seat mounted on the seat carriers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the back carriers and the seat carriers comprising pairs of links, the links of the first pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the back carriers, and the links of the second pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the seat carriers and having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first pair, rollers turnably mounted on one of said pairs of links and movable forwardly and rearwardly in the guides, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said rollers.

5. In a chair, a frame having forwardly-rearwardly extending guides at opposite sides thereof,

back carriers and a back mounted thereon, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the back carriers, seat carriers having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the back carriers, a seat mounted on the seat carriers, and means for supporting the forward ends of the back carriers and the seat carriers comprising pairs of links, the links of the first pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the back carriers, and the links of the second pair having their upper ends pivotally connected to the forward ends of the seat carriers and having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first pair, and the links of the third pair having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the rear supports and having their forward ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second pairs of links thus forming common pivotal connections between the three pairs of links, means movable in said guides and associated with said links at their common pivotal connections, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

6. In a chair, a frame, a seat and back assembly wherein the seat and back are pivotally connected for relative movement, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward part of the seat and back assembly, and means for supporting the seat and back assembly in the front comprising links having their upper ends pivotally connected to the seat and the back limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

7. In a chair, a frame, a seat and back assembly wherein the seat and back are pivotally connected for relative movement, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward part of the seat and back assembly, and

means for supporting the seat and back assembly in the front comprising a set of three links at each side of the chair, the links of each set having a common pivotal connection and being pivotally connected respectively with the seat, the back and a rear support, means for mounting the pivotally connected lower ends of said links on the frame for forward and rearward movements relative thereto, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said links.

8. In a chair, a frame having forwardly-rearwardly extending guides at opposite sides thereof, a seat and back assembly wherein the seat and back are pivotally connected for relative movement, rear supports having their lower ends pivotally connected to the frame and their upper ends pivotally connected to the rearward part of the seat and back assembly, means for supporting the seat and back assembly in the front comprising a set of three links at each side of the chair, the links of each set having a common pivotal connection and being pivotally connected respectively with the seat, the back and a rear support, rollers mounted at the common pivotal connections of the sets of links and movable forwardly and rearwardly in said guides, and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of said rollers.

MERRITT K. ORTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 652,801 'Moore July 3, 1900 2,336,031 Orton Dec. 7, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 56,925 Germany of 1891 

